


Time After Time

by eggosandxmen



Series: The Kinneys Deserve Better [5]
Category: X-23 (Comic), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: (not focused on but the warning is there), Canonical Character Death, Canonical Child Abuse, F/F, sarah loves her daughter for gods sake, self harm is touched on breifly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 09:07:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13567341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eggosandxmen/pseuds/eggosandxmen
Summary: Sarah reflects on her time as a mother.





	Time After Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is from early November of last year.

You are many things. You are a doctor, you are a college graduate (the second in your family), you are considered one of the smartest people in the world. What you never expected to add to that list is _mother_.

And certainly not mother in this way. You realize Laura- X-23- doesn’t really have an attachment to you as a mother. She doesn’t really have an attachment to you for any reason, of course. Weapons, according to Rice, don’t need attachments. You flip him off under the table.

(Privately, you curse yourself more than you ever do Rice.)

\--  
When Laura turns seven, you are still able to sneak into her cell. You hold your child- your barely 4’6, sub-80 pound child- in your arms. 

She hugs you back.

\--  
When your daughter is 10 years old, she runs for the first time. You awaken at midnight to sirens and Kevin slamming into your room, screaming that _23 ran and they have her in the cell and they’re going to **kill** her. _

The two of you are stopped at the door by two guards, covering the thick adamantium door.

You can still hear the screams.

\--

The next day is Christmas. Doctors and guards are home with their families. Laura is shackled upside-down onto the wall to prevent escape.

You and Rachel stay at the Facility. You take off Laura’s bonds and you let her play around in the halls with the locked exits, and you and Rachel dance to the Ronettes. You do not turn on the news.

\--

When Laura turns 12, she stops talking, period. Not to you, not to Henry, not to anyone. She gets angrier and angrier. She does not resemble the small girl playing in the halls on Christmas 2 years ago. Her eyes grow darker and when you go to her cell she moves away. She has extra cuts on her arms from god knows where.

You assume it is Rice.

Then your niece goes missing, and all else slips from your mind. You and Kevin talk to Debbie while Laura kills a man. When she returns with Megan, who’s sobbing in her too-big blanket, you do not thank her.  
\--  
When Laura turns thirteen, you begin to think of leaving. You pour over escape plans and avoid picking fights.

When you walk into your child’s cell and see her cutting into her own skin, you do not scream. You just hold her, for a long time.

She sits limp in your arms.

\--

With your last breath, you give her her name. She cries out when she awakens from her berserker rage and grips your hand while the world fades to black.

This is the first time you have seen her cry since she was six years old.

You squeeze her hand one last time and allow the shadows to take you away.

**Author's Note:**

> K&C are appreciated!


End file.
